Weather Scrubs Mid Atlantic Rocket Launch

The Weatherboy mascot stands in front of Launch Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility where an Antares rocket is scheduled to launch in November. Image: Weatherboy

An expected winter storm forecast to move through the northeast has forced NASA and rocket manufacturer Northrop Grumman to scrub Thursday morning’s scheduled rocket launch from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility on the Virginia coast. While reviewing launch forecast and safety protocols this morning, mission planners felt the 90% likelihood that weather would force a scrub was reason enough to cancel Thursday’s launch. The launch has been pushed to 4:23am ET on Friday, but NASA cautions there’s a better chance that weather will interfere again rather than cooperate on the back-up launch date. If the Antares rocket is unable to launch Friday, the next back-up slot is a 5-minute window that opens up at 4:01am ET on Saturday.